Gun-sight.



J, Y. BASSELL & F. 0. 'BLENKNER.

GUN SIGHT.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 20, 1908.

Patented Apr. 27, 1909.

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J. Y. BASSELL & P. c. BLENKNEB.

GUN SIGHT.

APPLIGATIONIIILED [1111.20, 1908.

9 1 9,525. Patented Apr. 27, 1909.

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S ATS JOHN Y. BASSELL AND FRED G. BLENKNER, OF COLUMBUS, OHIO.

GUN-SIGHT.

Application filed. January 20, 1908.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JOHN Y. BAs'sELL and F REI) C. BLENKNER, citizens of the United States, residing at'Columbus, in the county of Franklin and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Gun-Sights, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates more particularly to the type of sight illustrated in our patent of the United States No. 87 0,337, dated November 5, 1907, and its principal object is to provide an improved construction of rotary sighting member whereby such member can be operated with greater facility and be at the same time protected from injury or accidental movement.

Other features of improvement appear from the following description and the novel features of the invention are pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings in which one embodiment of the invention is shown- Figure 1 is a front elevation of the device; Fig. 2 is a transverse horizontal section on the line w-w Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view through the sighting mechanism taken on the line yy Fig. 1 but on a larger scale; Fig. a is a rear View of the sighting slide; Fig. 5 is a front View of a modified form of sight-disk; Fig. 6 is a rear view of the same; Fig. 7 is a side View of a military rifle showing our sight in the position of use thereon.

In the several views, as in our former patent, l designates the leaf or standard comprising two parallel wings 2 and 2 connected at their upper ends by a bridge 3, and at their lower ends by a hinged joint member 4 having a hinge pintle opening 1, shown in dotted lines Fig. 1, for connection with the companion hinge member on the rifle. As in our said patent, the wings 2 and 2 are provided at their inner edges with correspondingly inclined grooves or undercuts, as indicated at and 5 respectively, to form an inclined guideway to provide for driftage. The wing 2 contains a graduated scale extending substantially its entire length, and the wing 2 contains a partial scale.

6 designates a drift-slide comprising a flat plate beveled at opposite edges to fit closely, but slidably, in the driftage guideway, said drift-slide being provided with an Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 27, 1909.

Serial No. 411,817.

opening 6 to permit a line of view through the sights.

7 designates the rotatable disk containing a plurality of peep-sight openings 7 of different diameters, and an open sight-notch 7 the centers of the peep-sights and the center of the circle upon which the notchsight is cut all being equally distant from the axis of rotation of the disk. The disk 7 is rotarily secured to the drift-slide 6 by means of a screw 8 threaded into said slide at 8 In the present instance the inner side of the head of the screw 8, at its lower side, is cut away or beveled, as seen at 8, from the shank outward, and the sighting-member carrier 12 is cut away inclinedly upward in its upper part above said screw, as seen at 12 so that the sight-disk can be tilted or have its axis rocked, but in the bottom of said recess we interpose a spring 9 tending to normally hold the disk in a plane at right angles to its axis of motion. This spring 9 can be made of a small piece of flat steel bent to form the spring and it can be seated in a shallow recess 12 in the bottom of the carrier-plate 12. l/Vhen the disk is in its normal position, that is, when it stands at right angles to its axis of motion, and when a sight opening is in proper position, it is engaged and held by a pin 11 secured in the lower part of the drift-slide 6, said pin engaging the appropriate of several holes 7 arranged at intervals on the under or rear surface of said disk, thereby latching the disk in the position desired.

The sighting-member carrier 12 comprises a rear-plate 12 engaging the rear surface of the leaf or standard 1 and the front-plate 12 engaging the front face of said leaf, said plates being secured together beyond the outer edges of the leaf by means of screws 13 and 13*, substantially as in our former patent. The rear-plate 12 is provided with a recess 14 of a depth equal to the thickness of the leaf 1, and the walls of said recess closely engage the back and outer edges of the leaf so that the carrier is guided vertically in its movement on the leaf- A set-screw 15 is employed to secure the sight-slide in any desired position on the leaf. The rear-plate 12 is provided with a notch 16 to register with the opening 6 in the drift-slide 6. The front-plate 12 is recessed, as indicated at 17, to receive the sight-disk 7 so that said disk normally lies flush with the outer surface of said plate, but in the present instance we recess or curve out, as seen at 12, the upper portion of the front-plate 12 so that the sight-disk at its upper part may be conveniently depressed by the application of the thumb or finger and release it from the pin 11*, thereby permitting the disk to be turned to a new position. The recess 17 of the plate 12" is provided with a central opening 18 to register with the opening (3 in the drift-slide 6 and notch 16 in the plate 12, so that a through line of vision is had for any of the peepsights 7 or a field view for an open sightnotch 7 in the sight-disk when it is brought to sighting position. The front-plate 12 is also provided with scale-observing openings 19 and 20, the bottom edges 19 and 20 of which aline with the center of the sight opening when brought into sighting position. hen said sight-member carriage 12 is adjusted with the edges 19 and 20 at the proper range mark on the scale, the marksman may select from the various sights on the disk that one best suited to the prevailing atmospheric conditions or to his particular visual needs, and he may readily change from one sight to another without releasing and readjusting the sight-member carriage on the leaf, as in our said former patent. The front-plate 12 of the carrier is also furnished with a slot 21 in which the screw 8 connecting the drift-slide 6 and sight-disk 7 is laterally movable, thus permitting the lateral adjustment of the driftslide for drift correction, as in our former patent. The block 11 is also seated in the recess 17 in the front-plate and lies adjacent to the sight-disk with its upper edge curved to conform to the curvature of said disk. The front-plate 12 is also provided with slots 22 and 22 for the passage and lateral movement of the screws 11 and 11 connecting the block 11 and drift-slide 6, substantially as in our former patent. The front-plate 12 also carries a notch or battlesight 23, which is, as usual, arranged at a fixed elevation, and may be brought into service in any position of the sight-slide or carriage by throwing down the leaf.

The lower portion of the drift-slide 6 in the present instance is provided with a stop 27 of T-form of spring metal, the end of the shank of which abuts against the lower side of the bridge 3 to limit the upward movement of the sighting device and prevent its accidental removal from the leaf. By depressing said spring stop forward out of its normal path the sighting device may be readily removed from the leaf. A convenient mode of attaching the spring stop consists in forming an undercut groove, as seen at 6, in the back of the drift-slide and indenting the metal, as seen at 6 to engage the edge of the base of the spring.

Instead of the open notch-sight 7 b We propose to provide the disk with a closed peepsight 7 having an open space 7 above to afford a field of view, as seen in Figs. 5 and 6, thereby making provision for the ready finding of the object to be fired at and securing the advantage of the peep-sight in illlnlllg.

As in our former patent, to prevent adhesion of the parts due to corrosion, a thin non-corrosive metal plate 24, see Fig. 2, is inserted between the slide-block 1.1 and the sight-slide.

The operation, except in the particulars in which the present construction is differentiated from the construction of our former patent, is substantially the same; that is, the sight-slide or carrier is moved to the desired range mark on the scale with the lower edge of the scale-observing opening coinciding with the range mark, and as the sightslide is moved to the desired range elevation there is an. automatic lateral movement of the sighting member for drift correction. When the sight-slide is adjusted to the desired mark by moving the lower edge of the scaleobserving opening into coincidence with the range mark and set by means of the setscrew 15, the marksman, by merely depressing and turning at its upper part the sighting member, as herein described, can select the sight best suited to his individual needs and no further adjustment of the slide is necessary.

By reason of the construction of the carrier and sighting member herein described, it will be plain that there can be no accidental turning of the sighting member, because it is guarded and protected by the walls of the recess in which it is seated, except at the small portion cut away or omitted to make room for the application of the thumb or other digit of the hand for tilting and turning it.

lVhat we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a gun sight, the combination With a leaf and a sliding carrier thereon, of a rotary sighting member mounted on said carrier, said sighting member having a plurality of sighting openings arranged around its axis, means to latch said sighting member on the carrier in a plane at right angles to the axis of the sighting member, said carrier having a depression at one side of the axis of the sighting member, and said sighting member being tiltable at one side into said depression and with reference to said carrier to release the sighting member from the latching means and permit rotation of the sighting member.

2. In a gun sight, the combination with a leaf and a sliding carrier thereon, of a 1'0- tary sighting member, mounted on said carrier, said sighting member having a plurality of sighting Openings arranged around its axis, means to latch the sighting member on the carrier in a plane at right angles to the axis of the sighting member, said carrier having a depression at one side of the axis of the sighting member and said sighting member being tiltable at one side into said depression and With reference to said carrier to release the sighting member from the latching means and permit rotation of the sighting member, and means including a spring in said depression for yieldingly holding said latching means engaged to prevent rotation of the sighting member until tilted.

3. In a gun sight, the combination With a leaf, of a tilt-ably mounted rotatable sighting member having a plurality of sighting openings located around the axis of the sighting member, a spring for holding said sighting member normally in a plane at right angles to its mounting, and means for latching the sighting member With a sighting opening in sighting position.

4. In a gun sight, the combination of a leaf, a carrier on sald leaf to receive the sighting member, the sighting member, a headed pin on Which said sighting member is rotarily mounted, said pin being cut away and said carrier being recessed to permit the tilting of the sighting member on said pin, and latching devices to retain the sighting member from rotation when not tilted.

5. In a gun sight, the combination of a leaf, a carrier on said leaf having a recess to receive the sighting member, the sighting member, means on Which said sighting member can be tilted and rotated, the carrier being recessed at a point beyond the sighting member to permit the application of a digit of the hand for tilting and rotating the sighting member.

(3. In a gun sight, the combination of the leaf, and the sighting-member carrier sliding thereon, of a spring stop to prevent the removal of the carrier from the leaf.

JOHN Y. BASSELL. FRED C. BLENKNER. lVitnesses BENJAMIN FINCKEL, ALICE B. COOK. 

